This case study shows how Sainsbury's, a UK supermarket chain, made a decision to invest in longer term brand building in order to increase brand loyalty and sales.

A fierce price war between the four major supermarket brands and low consumer engagement had left Sainsbury's in a precarious position.

In order to mark the centenary of WWI and the events of Christmas Truce, Sainsbury's partnered with a military charity to release an early TV ad to support Remembrance Day, and later released a hero film featuring the events of the WWI Christmas Truce.

The film was broadcast on TV, alongside social, digital and cinema spots, and a special edition chocolate bar as featured in the film.

Sainsbury's raised over £6.5m for The Royal British Legion, with improved brand measures including consideration by 12 percentage points and awareness by 21 points.

This case study shows how Lidl, a supermarket brand, increased sales and beat its competition in the UK using a hidden-camera stunt that showed customers' reactions to its low prices.

Since the steady rise in popularity of 'hard-discounters', Lidl had lagged behind its main competitor, Aldi, with its well-performing advertising campaigns.

Lidl found that UK customers' perceptions of the price-quality tradeoff is deeply engrained - so the retailer devised a strategy that relied on campaign films featuring shoppers' positive reaction to trialling products blind, and their surprise that the products came from Lidl.

The campaign positioned TV at the centre of its strategy, with other ATL channels supporting it – print, radio, VOD, digital and social.

The campaign reached £768m in revenue (a 10.6% increase), with a profit ROI of 1.97.

Taking advantage of the festive period in India, the brand decided to take on the season's perception of encouraging auspicious beginnings, to create a new way of celebrating the festive season that did not contribute to air pollution: an origami firecracker.

The campaign created a TVC, alongside a theme song that was then promoted through radio, social media contests and a digital 'how to make your own origami firecracker' video that was itself spread across social media and digital platforms.

Big Bazaar reached a 20% increase sales over last year, with a 10% growth in bill size.

5

How Aldi marketed its way to the winning discount position

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Jamie Peate, Admap, October 2016, pp. 26-28

This article looks at how retailer Aldi positioned itself as the 'best-value' supermarket in the UK after the financial crash of 2008 significantly changed consumer behaviours.

This case study demonstrates how SuperValu, an Irish supermarket chain, showed its commitment to Ireland, helped local food producers and achieved a sales uplift through its Food Academy programme and a multi-faceted media campaign.

This case study demonstrates how SuperValu, an Irish supermarket chain, showed its commitment to Ireland, helped local food producers and achieved a sales uplift through its Food Academy programme and a multi-faceted media campaign.

Research showed that whilst Ireland was in the middle of a food revolution and there was a strong interest in Irish products, some rural farmers really struggled.

In 2015, SuperValu used its 'Good Food Karma' campaign to talk about Food Academy, one of the supermarket's initiatives that helped small producers get their products onto supermarket shelves.

Campaign communications were rolled out across the year with different TV, radio, press and digital executions focusing on key quality offerings across the business.

The campaign achieved a sales uplift of 40%, drove employment in local communities, affecting economies in a positive way and supported up-and-coming food producers.

This case study demonstrates how investment and a brand campaign helped Lidl, a German discount supermarket chain in Ireland, achieve impressive growth and increase turnover in a challenging market.

During its first decade in Ireland, Lidl experienced successful growth on the back of aggressive store expansion and offering the discounter model to the Irish consumer.

However, as new store openings slowed down and its competitors upped their game, Lidl needed to look to marketing to achieve new growth.

Research identified that mums with children aged 8-18, who wanted to live well - even on a budget - were the store's core audience.

The 'Choose to live a little' campaign, which included a TV spot, new high quality brand photography, a weekly offers leaflet, new staff uniforms and outdoor advertising, achieved significant increases in penetration over its duration at +12%, attracting shoppers who spent more.

10

ALDI Australia: The Christmas campaign that was so effective, we had to pull it off air

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The Communications Council, Silver, Australian Effie Awards, 2016

This case study explores how ALDI, the discount supermarket, stole share from the big 2 Australian supermarkets by celebrating the battle that is Christmas.

This case study explores how ALDI, the discount supermarket, stole share from the big 2 Australian supermarkets by celebrating the battle that is Christmas.

As a "discount supermarket that's full of surprises", ALDI loses relevance at a time when shoppers prioritise quality and familiarity over price.

From the awkward office party, to the frustration of untangling fairy lights, to the stress of preparing a meal for your extended family, the reality is that Christmas is an 8-week rollercoaster of emotions.

This refreshingly honest take on Christmas was both uniquely Australian and uniquely ALDI, showing that they understood what it took to put on an Aussie Christmas.

The campaign led with a 60-second brand TVC to establish the idea, take people on the emotional journey, and cleverly integrate ALDI's seasonal Christmas products throughout; a 30 second version followed to tell a deeper story around particular product lines.

As a result, ALDI saw an increase in sales as well as an increase in the total value of their shoppers' baskets.

11

ALDI Australia: On for the Retail Brave: Converting the Haters

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The Communications Council, Bronze, Australian Effie Awards, 2016

This case study describes how ALDI, the discount supermarket, brought its brand into the mainstream by broadcasting the views of sceptics in return for tasting and lie detector tests.

This case study describes how ALDI, the discount supermarket, brought its brand into the mainstream by broadcasting the views of sceptics in return for tasting and lie detector tests.

Sometimes too much brand love can be a bad thing; sycophantic advocacy was actually pushing the doubters further away - a reverse bandwagon.

The idea, born out in videos, was where ALDI lovers see if they can convert their doubting friends through a series of ALDI experiences and experiments.

The campaign has been ALDI's most effective to date delivering revenue growth and new households shopping at ALDI.

12

Seven & I Holdings Co, Ltd (Retail)

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Euromonitor Profiles, July 2016

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Seven & I Holdings Co, Ltd, the owner of brands such as 7-Eleven and Ito-Yokado. View Summary

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Seven & I Holdings Co, Ltd, the owner of brands such as 7-Eleven and Ito-Yokado. Included is a strategic evaluation with key facts about the Japanese company, competitive positioning against comparative brands, and assessment of its position in the retail market. Brand opportunities, operations and strategy are identified and recommendations for the future offered.

13

Sainsbury's and The Royal British Legion: Christmas is for sharing – 1914: A Christmas truce

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Cannes Creative Lions, Silver, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2016

This case study details British supermarket, Sainsbury's campaign for Christmas 2014 that leveraged the centenary of the outbreak of WWI, creating a memorable campaign that looked back at the 1914 Christmas truce.

This case study details British supermarket, Sainsbury's campaign for Christmas 2014 that leveraged the centenary of the outbreak of WWI, creating a memorable campaign that looked back at the 1914 Christmas truce.

The Christmas season in the UK is fast becoming Britain's 'Super Bowl;' major new players are scheduling big campaigns for the holiday, in a climate of consumer exigency at both ends - price and quality.

What really matters at Christmas are the simple pleasures and shared moments eating, drinking and being with friends and family; Christmas is not about the gifts you give, it's about who you share it with.

The insight that Christmas is for sharing combined with 2 anniversaries: 20 years of partnership with the Royal British Legion, a charity for returned servicemen, and the centenary of the First World War, specifically the unique event of the Christmas 2014 truce.

The campaign engaged customers through donations and appeals through October and November (the month of remembrance in the UK) right up to the launch of the main TV ad.

Results: Sainsbury's raised over £6M for the RBL, #christmasisforsharing was a top trend in the first 15 minutes, despite not featuring a hashtag; the ad sparked impassioned debate in the national press but positive responses from viewers, making Sainsbury's the 2014 category favourite.

14

M&S: An adventure in building marketing capabilities

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Marketing Society UK, Excellence Awards, Winner, 2016

This case study looks at M&S Food, the UK retailer, and the campaign to return the business to growth by building marketing capabilities and infrastructure across the business to ensure a premium image.

This case study looks at M&S Food, the UK retailer, and the campaign to return the business to growth by building marketing capabilities and infrastructure across the business to ensure a premium image.

The plan began by understanding how to market core functional capabilities, developing a bespoke positioning tool to build a shared understanding of what food positioning should look like.

These capabilities were then applied and delivered as a new positioning across the customer experience.

The final phase drove performance by inspiring market leaders to lead a customer-centred organisation.

Strengthened marketing capabilities have led to a motivated, high performing Marketing team which has, in turn, delivered superior business results.

15

Tesco: Basket dating

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Becky Dailey, Warc Prize for Social Strategy, Entrant, 2016

This case study explains how Tesco, a supermarket brand, launched a Valentine's Day campaign based on digital video in the UK.

This case study explains how Tesco, a supermarket brand, launched a Valentine's Day campaign based on digital video in the UK.

Wanting to cash in on the growing Valentine's Day market, and inspired by popular dating TV shows, Tesco showed how consumers' shopping habits can reveal a lot about them personally – and can be used as a match-making tool.

To illustrate this concept, the brand produced a main campaign video matching shoppers according to their shopping-basket products and sending them on a date.

Alongside the main digital video, four other supporting digital videos presenting Tesco curated Valentine's Day products were created and spread across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

This case study describes how Grupo ƒxito, a Colombian retailer, enhanced its corporate social responsibility and achieved mass reach with a documentary showcasing the country's natural wonders that was promoted on social media.

This case study describes how Grupo ƒxito, a Colombian retailer, enhanced its corporate social responsibility and achieved mass reach with a documentary showcasing the country's natural wonders that was promoted on social media.

Grupo ƒxito needed to find a way to uphold its three corporate social responsibility pillars – child nutrition, sustainable commerce, and reducing its carbon footprint – in an authentic way.

So it commissioned a biodiversity cinematographic production as a tribute to Colombia's natural beauty.

Ahead of the release, it built buzz about the movie on social media using a brand news room of experts who leveraged social media data, segmented the audience and sent targeted messaging.

'Colombia Magia Salvaje' became the most watched Colombian movie in national theatres in history, earning $1.3m at the box office - money that was ploughed back in to the brand's social programmes.

17

Pxmart: Children's day for adults

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James Liu, Warc Prize for Social Strategy, Entrant, 2016

The case study describes how Pxmart, one of the largest supermarket chains in Taiwan, used technology to trigger childhood memories to attract more visitors to their stores.

This case study shows how Tesco, a supermarket brand, successfully launched its UK Christmas campaign by marrying a previously used campaign strategy with a trending online content model.

With the festive period fast approaching, Tesco wanted to increase its sales and visibility as a toy retailer.

Making use of a previously designed campaign for Halloween, the brand produced one main digital video and four instructional videos that showed children picking out their favourite toys and explaining the reasons for their choices.

The campaign was released on YouTube and fed through Facebook and Twitter, culminating with an in-store layout of a toy carousel to display the toys presented in the video.

Tesco sales increased by 1.3% following the campaign.

19

Tesco Spookermarket: Helping the UK celebrate at Halloween

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Damola Timeyin, Warc Prize for Social Strategy, Shortlisted, 2016

This case study shows how Tesco, a supermarket chain, successfully drove brand awareness in the UK by immersing customers in a Halloween experience not only online but also in store.

This case study shows how Tesco, a supermarket chain, successfully drove brand awareness in the UK by immersing customers in a Halloween experience not only online but also in store.

The mainstream adoption of Halloween as a British cultural moment has made it one of the nation's largest retail events of the year, grossing an estimated £300m for UK retailers.

Looking to cash in on the event, Tesco produced a series of four instructional videos on Halloween prank-building and a 5th digital video depicting the Spookermarket - where these pranks were tried out in real life.

The content was then spread across social media and digital video platforms.

The campaign attracted 28m views, triggered 170k+ shares, and resulted in an 8% uplift in brand favourability during the campaign period.

20

How Data Insights Changed Redmart's Mobile E-Commerce Strategy

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Anna Hamill, Event Reports, Market Research in the Mobile World 2016

This article explores how Singapore's leading online grocery service, Redmart, used consumer testing and big data to update its consumer experience for a new, multi-device shopper.

This article explores how Singapore's leading online grocery service, Redmart, used consumer testing and big data to update its consumer experience for a new, multi-device shopper.

Redmart's challenge as it grew was adapting its customer experience to keep up with Singapore's rapidly changing consumer purchase behaviors - intent level for online shopping has gone from about 20% to 70%+ over the last two years.

Customer insights from across the path to purchase revealed that a new class of consumers had emerged: multi-device shoppers, of which there are a significant number more in Singapore compared to other countries in South East Asia.

A 'session focused' approach to measurement should be avoided as it doesn't realistically capture the multi-device journey of customers: brands must take unifying data from mobile app, desktop and mobile web and analyse the trends at the customer level.

Research revealed that Redmart's app and the desktop shouldn't be mirror images of each other, and should be differently structured for different devices and different behaviours - Redmart was forced to build individual path to purchase journeys for mobile app vs desktop.

21

From Starbucks to Sainsbury's: how retailers are making it easy for mums

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Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, Mumstock, March 2016

This event report considers how some brands are approaching the task of marketing to mothers by making their lives easier.

This event report considers how some brands are approaching the task of marketing to mothers by making their lives easier.

Supermarkets, for example, are looking beyond price for ways to engage parents, including store design and mining loyalty card data.

While Starbucks doesn’t specifically target mothers, it does seek to create an environment they can enjoy and has adopted the NCT's Parent Friendly Places Charter.

Brands that are already making mums' lives easier could think about reframing the language they use so that the perceived pressures are placed on families rather than mothers' alone.

22

Target Corp (Retail)

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Euromonitor Profiles, January 2016

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Target Corp, the owner of brands such as Target, Super Target, Private Label and Market Pantry. View Summary

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Target Corp, the owner of brands such as Target, Super Target, Private Label and Market Pantry. Included is a strategic evaluation with key facts about the US company, competitive positioning against comparative brands, and assessment of its position in the retail market. Brand opportunities and strategy are identified and recommendations for the future offered.

23

Carrefour SA (Retail)

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Euromonitor Profiles, January 2016

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Carrefour SA, the owner of brands such as Dia and Champion. View Summary

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Carrefour SA, the owner of brands such as Dia and Champion. Included is a strategic evaluation with key facts about the French company, competitive positioning against comparative brands, and assessment of its position in the retail market. Brand opportunities, strategy and operations are identified and recommendations for the future offered.

24

Aldi Group (Retail)

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Euromonitor Profiles, January 2016

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Aldi Group. Included is a strategic evaluation with key facts about the German company and competitive positioning against comparative brands in the retail market. View Summary

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Aldi Group. Included is a strategic evaluation with key facts about the German company and competitive positioning against comparative brands in the retail market. Brand opportunities and strategy are identified and recommendations for the future offered.

25

Costco Wholesale Corp (Retail)

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Euromonitor Profiles, March 2016

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Costco Wholesale, the largest membership-only warehouse in the US. View Summary

This Company Profile from Euromonitor provides key details and analysis of Costco Wholesale, the largest membership-only warehouse in the US. Included is a strategic evaluation with key facts about the US company, competitive positioning against comparative brands, and assessment of its position in the retail market. Brand operations and strategy are identified and recommendations for the future offered.